The way to get startup ideas is not to try to think of startup ideas. It’s to look for problems, preferably problems you have yourself. The very best startup ideas tend to have three things in common: they’re something the founders themselves want, that they themselves can build, and that few others realize are worth doing.

THINGS PEOPLE ASK YOU FOR HELP WITH

It’s hard to start a company when you have no relevant skills. If you are interested in starting a consulting or freelancing job, one of the simplest things you can do to come up with ideas is to think about what your friends and colleagues frequently ask you for help with. Any skill can usually be turned into a consulting business and eventually a product.

THINGS THAT USUALLY ANNOY PEOPLE

Go up to a few of your family, friends, and acquaintances and ask them what annoys them the most about their day-to-day lives. There will be a lot of noise to sift through but you might start to hear things that you can build a business around. Maybe all of your friends want a quicker way to shop online, or a way to find delicious new coffees; whatever it is, you could likely build a business around it, and you’ll already have a few interested customers.

THINGS THAT YOU HAVE A PARTIAL SOLUTION FOR

There is a big chance that there’s something in your life you’ve cobbled together a partial-solution for. Something to save you a bunch of time that a full solution for doesn’t exist. Whatever the solution is, odds are good that other people are doing something similar or have thought about it, and if you can make a product that does it for them it will sell very well.

THINGS THAT PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITIES YOU ARE A MEMBER OF ARE LOOKING FOR

You are probably a member of a number of communities, both online and in real life. These could be forums, clubs, your job, or even sub-communities on internet sites. The benefit of having a community is that you already understand their wants and needs, and you can listen to see what they want to buy. You could go to a MeetUp group and try suggesting a few business ideas to see which one sparks the most interest, or post some ideas in a relevant sub-forum to gauge people’s reactions.

THINGS THAT MAKE PEOPLE MAD

What are the things that make people mad? You can find similar things simply by going to Google/Facebook/Twitter and searching for the things people hate or something similar. People love to complain on the Internet so you’ll be presented with a lot of startup ideas. Take whatever you find and create a solution for it. Create something that will change people’s opinion on a particular hate and they will love you for it.

Wanting to start your own venture is a lofty goal. You have all these great ideas that you are so sure will make you a successful entrepreneur but, did you know that there are some startup ideas that have persistently failed? If you want to make it big, then avoid these startup ideas that frequently fail.

SEARCH ENGINES

Why make another search engine when ‘search engine’ is synonymous to ‘Google’? People do not anymore refer to it as ‘looking it up online’ instead they refer to it as ‘Googling’. Google owns the search market and they intend for it to stay that way.

ALTERNATIVES TO EMAIL

Electronic mail (e-mail) has changed the way people communicate. Everyone, from your neighbor’s grandmother to CEOs of big business, uses email to communicate. There is no need for an alternative to email but email in itself can be done better, especially as spamming is still a big problem.

MUSIC STARTUPS

It would be very hard to beat free downloads when the alternative is to charge for each song. Surprisingly, iTunes is doing well but that could also be due to the Apple magic. It’s difficult to pull off a music startup because there are just too many middlemen and you have to pay huge sums as royalties.

WEBTV

Year after year some entrepreneurs attempt variations of WebTV ideas despite anybody getting critical success in this business. People clearly do not want another box in their homes as the TV has become a mainstay in their living rooms.

BUSINESS CARDS

Throughout the years, various entrepreneurs have tried (and failed) to solve the problem of the digitalization of the business card. CardMunch, for one, was doing fine converting business cards into digital address book contacts until it was acquired by LinkedIn. LinkedIn subsequently killed it.

DATING APPS

Really, there are just too many dating apps out there. It is crowded and it is scary but singles will still be looking for dates. The big thing now with dating apps is Tinder who has made a huge impression with a simple swipe idea.

COUPON AND VOUCHER DEALS

The Groupon-type business model has been tried dozens of times and has persistently failed, until Groupon. Sad to say, Groupon is slowly declining because people have begun ignoring the group discount emails. These emails have become too much to deal with, especially if you are not yet ready to make a purchase. People want to get deals when they want it and not when they are working and not even thinking about shopping.

Other than those mentioned above, here is a list by Lee Semel (leesemel.com) who answered this on Quora:

Anything that makes programming “easy for non-programmers or businesspeople”

Micropayments

T-Shirts (except Threadless and Busted Tees)

Recommendations based on what your friends like

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